Honeycomb users to get better looking Gingerbread apps

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Google has detailed a new feature it plans to add to the next version of Honeycomb.

“Android tablets are becoming more popular, and we're pleased to note that the vast majority of apps resize to the larger screens just fine. To keep the few apps that don't resize well from frustrating users with awkward-looking apps on their tablets, a near-future release of Honeycomb is introducing a new screen compatibility mode to make these apps more usable on tablets,” says Scott Main, the lead tech writer for developer.android.com.

Detailing the news to developers, Google has said that any app that isn’t specifically designed for Android 3.0 will now include a button in the system bar that, when touched, allows users to select between two viewing modes on large-screen devices.

“Stretch to fill screen”, is normal layout resizing (using your app’s alternative resources for size and density) and “Zoom to fill screen” is the new screen compatibility mode.

However, Google warns that if developers have already been savvy enough to actually design their app to resize for large screens, the new screen compatibility mode is “probably an inferior user experience for your app and you should prevent users from using it.”